The
early spring air, still chilled by the remnant of winter, rushed past Neste’s
cheeks and teased her chestnut hair out from under her leather helmet. She took
a deep breath, but her hands trembled on the reins. A shiver of tension ran
through the muscles of the winged horse beneath her, and Neste murmured, “Easy,
Llawen, just like we practiced now. Easy, del,” masking her own anxiety
as best she could with the Welsh endearment.

The
mare was not fooled. She tossed her head and her silver wings missed a beat.
Neste clenched her lips and focused on Llawen’s gray ears. They swiveled, alert
to the other four horses in formation nearby. Hoel, aboard his glossy brown
stallion, led with confidence that bordered on recklessness. Neste suspected
that some depth of his mind believed only he could master this dance, rendering
all others irrelevant and beneath him. Still, he led the team. Of course he
wanted them to perform well.

The
swish of Llawen’s powerful wings added to the breeze, and the usual delight of
soaring aboard such a beautiful creature filled Neste’s heart. Below them,
people locked to the ground scurried about their business to the apothecary or
the tanner or the tavern. Nonwinged horses pulled wagons and carriages. Neste
wondered if Llawen felt superior to them.

The
mare’s charcoal-colored mane rippled. The occasional silver strands caught the
sunlight and sparkled. The mare’s dappled gray neck gleamed with sweat as the
most difficult part of the routine came upon them and Neste’s pleasure
evaporated in concentration.

“Hover
like a hummingbird.” She muttered Hoel’s ridiculous words as she signaled the
mare. The great silver wings angled slightly so that the downstrokes would not
carry horse and rider forward. Neste patted the damp gray neck. “Best
hummingbird in Tremeirchson.”

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Coming in just a few weeks is the latest book in Linda Ulleseit's Flying Horse Books trilogy. Who hasn't dreamed of being able to just get away from it all? What a marvelous thing to be able to jump aboard a winged horse and take to the sky! In the remote Welsh mountains, High Meadow is home to a herd of such creatures and their human caretakers. Each year, spectators come to watch the Aerial Games--dances and races held in the air riding on winged horses. In UNDER A WILD AND DARKENING SKY, High Meadow's new baker, William, is enthralled with the whole scene. His children, however, are not.

Seventeen-year-old Ralf knows he must take over his father’s bakery, but is it
wrong to want some adventure before he does? New to High Meadow, he is
befriended by the beautiful and dangerous Branwen, who has her own goal—to
entice Ralf to help her steal a winged horse and return it to Tremeirchson.

Meanwhile, Ralf’s sister, fourteen-year-old Alyna, dives into barn life hoping to find herself.
Becoming a groom to a winged foal is a lot of responsibility to the horse, to
the barn, and to her father, who idolizes the wrong barn leader. Politics,
greed, and revenge swirl around the siblings as they struggle to be
true to their family and their future.

Love history but not the boring parts? UNDER THE ALMOND TREES follows three women in one family who are very determined to get what they want. Ellen stood up for herself and married the man of her heart, only to lose him soon after. By the time she's remarried, pregnant with her third child, and widowed, she cares little for what society thinks. She runs her husband's business and sues the county to be allowed to vote. But it's 1862 and women in California can't vote.

Both books, as well as the rest of the Flying Horse series, are available on Amazon as ebooks and paperbacks.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Mason is not imaginary.
He's not a ghost, either.
And he's most definitely not a hallucination.

Mason is an Aerling, and the Sentinels' number one target.

Separated to keep each other safe and alive until Mason's eighteenth birthday when Olivia is expected to guide him back to the world of the Aerlings, neither one was prepared to be stripped of their best friend, of the person they love most. The pain being away from each other causes is the least of their worries, though, as the Sentinels intensify their search for Mason and bring the threat of danger to a whole new level.

Inside the Mind of the Author (Guest Post from DelSheree Gladden, author of Intangible)

The mind of an author is an interesting place. Where else will you find dozens of voices all clambering for attention and begging for their story to be told? Not only that, but it’s perfectly acceptable for an author to talk back to the voices, carry on conversations even. Some of those conversations can last days, weeks, or even years.

Authors think they are the ones writing a character when they first start out, but that’s rarely the case. If authors try to force their characters into a scene, it doesn’t work as well as if they just let it happen. Characters know who they are from the beginning. It’s the author’s job to get to know them well enough to tell their story in the right way.

I can’t tell you how many times I have lain awake at night replaying a scene over and over in my head until I get it right. I swear sometimes I can feel a character’s frustration when I try to bend them into a roll they weren’t meant to play, or have them say something they just wouldn’t say. The characters slowly become friends and writing their story takes on new meaning. When you’re done, you miss them sometimes.

Arguing with characters isn’t all that goes on in an author’s mind. I try not to base any of my characters on one particular person from real life. Bits and pieces of reality get incorporated here and there, but it’s hard not to do that, and I wouldn’t want to limit myself like that anyway. So, many casual interactions, random moments, and phrases get stored in my head throughout the day. They marinate there, building into a piece of dialog or a setting for a scene.

Creativity, at times, seems to be on the outs. It seems like children are pushed more and more to live in little boxes that limit their curiosity and desire to explore. Authors give themselves the freedom to think about outlandish, impossible situations and how to survive them. They may be in the middle of a heartbreaking scene of loss one minute then switch to a fight scene that still needs improvement. There are no limits to what you can do because it’s all just pretend. Half of what an author imagines up most likely will never be written down, but it took all that imagining and arguing and observing to finally arrive at the one idea that does make the cut.

Fiction encompasses so much. Romance, action, mystery, fantasy, history, myth, legend…there are no limits. I think authors have the kinds of minds that embrace that idea. There are no rules that dictate what kind of story you can write. Even invisible teenage boys like Mason can take center stage. No one is standing over an author’s shoulder telling them how the plot should develop. If it’s impossible for something to happen in the real world, no problem, all an author has to do is create a new world.

Of course, not every piece of fiction is based in fantasy. Crime and mystery are good examples of reality based fiction, but even dramas and romances with no fantasy or sci-fi leanings must stay within the constraints of reality. That hardly diminishes an author’s creativity, though. There is still so much to imagine and develop. Characters’ reactions, situations they will find themselves in, outcomes of their choices, and what drives a character are all up for grabs, just waiting for a creative mind to step in and experience the developing story firsthand.

About The Author

DelSheree Gladden lives in New Mexico with her husband and two children. The Southwest is a big influence in her writing because of its culture, beauty, and mythology. Local folk lore is strongly rooted in her writing, particularly ideas of prophecy, destiny, and talents born from natural abilities. When she is not writing, DelSheree is usually reading, painting, sewing, or working as a Dental Hygienist. Her works include Escaping Fate, Twin Souls Saga, The Destroyer Trilogy, and Invisible. Look for, Wicked Power, the next book in the Someone Wicked This Way Comes Series, and Soul Stone, book two in the Escaping Fate Series, coming 2014.

Olivia’s best friend is not imaginary. He’s not a ghost, either. And she’s pretty sure he’s not a hallucination. He’s just Mason.

He is, however, invisible.

When Olivia spotted the crying little boy on her front porch at five years old, she had no idea she was the only one who could see him. Twelve years later when new-girl Robin bumps into the both of them and introduces herself to Mason, they are both stunned.

Mason couldn’t be more pleased that someone else can see him. Olivia, on the other hand, isn’t jumping at the chance to welcome Robin into their circle. Jealousy may have something to do with that, but honest fear that Robin’s presence will put Mason in danger is soon validated when a strange black car shows up outside Olivia’s house.

The race to find out what Robin knows in time to protect Mason from whatever threats are coming becomes Olivia’s only focus.